Platinum Emperor rules first-up in Asia Cup
Ridden by Marc Lerner for the first time, the Sweynesse five-year-old jumped from gate nine and settled in midfield early.
King Of Sixty-One (Ikram Jamaludin) and January (Andre da Silva) shared the lead, with Cavalry (Wong Kam Chong) and Kanthaka (Iskandar Rosman) in close attendance.
Platinum Emperor made good ground on the home bend and began to fight out the finish with the first four at the 400m.
The two early leaders soon folded while Calvary and Platinum Emperor broke away with 200m to go, and it was Platinum Emperor ($14) who took the upper hand and won by ½ length.
Fortune Wheel (Lim Aun Kean) finished another four lengths away in third. The winning time on a track rated yielding was 1min 23.22sec for the 1,400m on the long course.
Previously known as Famous Rainbow in Macau, Platinum Emperor won on his Malaysian debut in the Wilayah Silver Bowl on Feb 2, followed by a third to Noah Khan in the Group 1 Tunku Gold Cup (1,200m) on March 16, before being sidelined.
"He had some health issues, so we gave him plenty of time to recover," said winning trainer Ricky Choi.
"He needed the run but Marc Lerner rode him well. It was our plan that he settled off the pace before coming home. He will be better over a longer trip."
While Platinum Emperor scored on the 1,200m and 1,400m in Kuala Lumpur, he has won eight races from 1,200m to 1,800m in Macau.
Lerner was pleased with the win, even if he had to ride him a bit more positive than before.
"I tried to ride him more forward than he used to," he said.
"But over today's (long) course, I was also wary not to hit the front too early. He was quite relaxed during the race. On class, he was the best horse in the race."
Visiting jockey Bernardo Pinheiro, who will also be riding in Kuala Lumpur on July 20, was back in the winner's enclosure with the Sharee Hamilton-trained Super Posh ($26) in a Class 4B sprint (1,200m) after a four-month layoff.
The Brazilian jockey last rode in Abu Dhabi on March 9, but had to take a break from racing due to minor health issues.
"I felt the pain in my body then, and while it's hard to say exactly where my injury came from, maybe I've worked too hard and my body just needed rest," said Pinheiro, who rang up a treble at his last visit to Sungai Besi on Sept 22, 2024.
"But I'm thankful to the Selangor Turf Club and happy to be winning again."
SELANGOR TURF CLUB/TURFONLINE
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